The numbers behind responsible firearm ownership.
A short reading list of the most-cited self-defense, concealed-carry and gun-control statistics — with sources.
Law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals as many as 2.5 million times every year — about 6,850 times a day.
Each year, firearms are used more than 80 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives.
Even anti-gun Clinton researchers concede 1.5 million annual self-defense uses, per the National Institute of Justice (1997).
States that passed concealed carry laws reduced their rate of murder by 8.5%, rape by 5%, aggravated assault by 7% and robbery by 3%.
Kennesaw, GA passed a 1982 law requiring heads of households to keep at least one firearm — burglary fell 89%, vs. a 10.4% drop in Georgia overall.
FBI reports show that the homicide rate in Florida fell 52% in the 15 years following the 1987 passage of its concealed carry law.
Self-defense, in brief
Of the 2.5 million times citizens use their guns to defend themselves every year, the overwhelming majority merely brandish their gun or fire a warning shot to scare off their attackers — less than 8% of the time will a citizen kill or wound the attacker.
As many as 200,000 women use a gun every year to defend themselves against sexual abuse. Handguns are the weapon of choice — citizens use handguns to protect themselves over 1.9 million times a year.
Concealed carry, in brief
Vermont — one of five states with constitutional carry — has remained in the country's top-five safest states for ten years running, having three times received the "Safest State Award."
In Florida, alligator attacks outpaced crimes committed by concealed-carry permit holders 229 to 155 in the law's first 15 years. Most "crimes" by permit holders were Floridians who accidentally carried into restricted areas like an airport.
Police can't be everywhere
The courts have consistently ruled that the police do not have an obligation to protect individuals — only the public in general (Warren v. D.C.). In 1989 the Department of Justice found 168,881 violent crimes were not responded to by police within 1 hour. In 1996 there were ~150,000 officers on duty at any one time for a population of more than 260 million Americans — over 1,700 citizens per officer.
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